The temporary freeze on applications to hire foreign workers will be lifted starting this coming Friday, says Minister of Human Resources, Datuk Seri M. Saravanan.

He said although the temporary freeze had been decided upon earlier, the new decision was made after taking into consideration the request from the industries to lift the temporary freeze.

"I've decided to approve (the industries' request), so the freeze has been lifted and we will process the new applications from this Friday.

"We've decided that all the earlier applications to hire some 400,000 foreign workers to proceed before the end of this month," he told reporters after meeting with several business associations at Wisma HRD Corp, here.

EUROCHAM Malaysia together with our fellow member Invest Johor organised and coordinated the Johor State Engagement and Roundtable Discussion with the European Chambers with the theme, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Trends to Watch Post COVID yesterday.

The focus of the discussion was to understand the sentiments about Malaysia and Johor in terms of investment opportunities in 2022 and 2023 from the perspective of the EU chambers of commerce as well as to gather input from the EU chambers, embassies and trade offices to increase and improve the investment opportunities in Johor.

We would like to thank Invest Johor together with YB Lee Ting Han, Johor State Executive Council and Investment, Trade and Consumer Affairs Committee Chairman, and Pn Zarina binti Abdul Kadir, CEO of Invest Johor working alongside us for a successful, productive, and insightful meeting with our EU bilateral associate Chambers, embassies and trade offices that also attended the engagement and roundtable discussion.

On behalf of our fellow member, The International School of Kuala Lumpur (ISKL), we would like to share and invite our fellow members to join/attend the ISKL’s Open Day that will be happening in September 2022!

Find yourself at ISKL's Open Day this September! ISKL's Open Day is an opportunity to meet different community members so you can ask questions and better understand the benefits of ISKL's curriculum and approach to learning. ISKL focuses on nurturing the individual, as opposed to a one-size-fits-all approach to education.

We would like to wish all our members a Happy International Youth Day!

Solidarity across generations is key for sustainable development.

"Intergenerational solidarity: Creating a world for all ages”

The European Commission has approved, under EU State aid rules, a €2.98 billion German scheme to promote green district heating based on renewable energy and waste heat. The measure will contribute to the implementation of Germany‘s National Energy and Climate Plan and to the EU's strategic objectives relating to the EU Green Deal, in particular the EU's 2050 climate neutrality target.

Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager, in charge of competition policy, said: “This €2.98 billion scheme will contribute to greening the district heating sector in Germany, by supporting the construction of more efficient district heating systems and the decarbonisation of existing ones. With this measure, Germany will be able to increase the share of renewable energy and waste heat in the heating sector, thereby considerably decreasing its emissions. The German aid measure we have approved today will contribute to achieving the EU Green Deal objectives and help Germany meet its environmental targets, while limiting possible distortions of competition.”

Applications to hire foreign workers have been stopped temporarily from Aug 15 to 31, the Human Resources Ministry (KSM) said on Friday (Aug 5).

It is to enable a review of foreign worker procedures, following the Employment (Amendment) Act 2022 that will be enforced from Sept 1, the ministry said in a statement.

"The new procedure for foreign worker applications beginning Sept 1, 2022 will be announced soon,” the ministry said.

Applications submitted by employers before or on Aug 14 would be processed and completed before or on Aug 31, 2022.

The Employment (Amendment) Act 2022 passed by the Parliament in March, involves the extension of maternity leave from 60 days to 98 days, restrictions to firing pregnant workers, as well as the introduction of paternity leave for married male workers.